Cable repair carriage



May 16, 1933- w. H. BONE 1,909,742

CABLE REPAIR CARRIAGE Filed May 16, 1950 4 fllllhflllllllll-llllllllllll 7 38-. 92/ IN VEN TOR.

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A TTORNE Y.

Patented May 16, 1933 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIeE WALTER H. BONE, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI i CABLE REPAIR CARRIAGE Application filed May 16; 1930. Serial No. 452,926.

sengers supporting telephone cables or the like, for supporting workmen and transporting workmen engaged in inspecting or repairing the cables.

Cable chairs or cars of this character usually include rigid permanent-lyconnected" frame members having pair'sot metal wheels running on the messenger, the workman grasping the messenger and pushing against the wheel frame to advance the chair. The metal wheels tend to dislodge the rings whereby the cables are supported, and the workman must delay his travel-to replace the rings. The messenger andcable sag between supporting poles under'their own Weight and that of the supported workman, and a chair tends toroll by gravity sometimes at dangerous speed downwardly along inclined portions of the messenger, the workman being required to grasp the messenger to check W speed and to grasp the messenger or engagea post with foot or hand to stop the chair. I

The workman must hold to the messenger or insert a tool or scotching block under a wheel to lock the chair in a selected'position on a messenger. curred due to these condltions, including danger of injury to the workman, and possibility that scotchingmeans may fall to injure persons or property beneath the'chair and release the chair.

The metal wheels of present cable chairs tend to break particles from the wire messengers and rings and dislodge deposits thereon, which may be thrown into the face of the workman.

The principal objects of my invention therefore are to obviate the hazard of dis placement of cable-supporting rings by wheels of a moving chair, to prevent dislodgment of particles from messengers and rings by chair wheels, to provide brakes ap-.

plicable to chairs having the qualities just referred to whereby the workman may check the speed of a chair without graspingv the messenger, to assure retention of a cable chair in a selected position on amessenger, to pro Serious hazards are in cable chair having adequate rigidity when I assembled.

In accomplishing these and other objects of my invention, I have provided improved" details of structure, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawing, wherein:

Fig. 1 is a perspectiveview of a cable chair constructed in accordance with my invention mounted on a messenger.

Fig. 2 is a longitudinal central vertical section through the chair.

Fig. 3 is a section on the line33, Fig; 2.

Fig. 4 is a detail perspective view of a brake shoe onthe end of a spring, and a shoe lining in displaced position. 7

Referring in detail to the drawing-z 1 designates an electrical conductor such asa telephone cable supported by strap'hangers 2 commonly called ringsfrom a wire cable 3 which will be referred to as a messenger l designates a seat or platform connected by flexible elements including loops 5 and chains 6 with curved metalstraps' or arms 7: havingupper portions connected' and formedas presently described to receive and support wheels 8 on axle shafts 9to comprise a cable chairorcar adapted to be mounted on the messenger to support a workman.

Hooks 10 having eyes mounted on the loops 5 may be engaged with selected links and latched thereto for reducing the length of the flexible elements and adjusting the spacing. of the seat from the cable,- for workmen of different heights.

Portions of the straps 7'- adjacent their free ends are bent to form parallel arms 11 and 12 spaced by bar-like webs 13 -and'prorvided with registering .journalwopenings- 14 jecting laterally spaced fingers 18 extending outside of said arms 11 and 12, and provided with openings to receive th ends of the wheel shafts. Cotter pins inserted in the shafts latch the fingers tothe arms and retain the shafts in the frame.

In order to provide wheel surfaces having a high coefiicient of friction to engage the messengers and adapted to pass over the rings without disturbing the same, 1 provide wheels comprising relativelysmall tubular hubs or cores 20 for rotative mounting on the shafts 9, central or filler portions 21 consisting of disks formed of rubber or the like having recessed peripheries 22 conforming substantially to tie contour of tie messenger and mounted on the hubs, and rim portions 23 consisting of metal disks extending substantially beyond the edges of the fillers and having beveled inner edge faces as merging into the inclined surfaces of the fillers. The faces 2% are tapered from lines on the disks adjacent the outer surfaces of the disks to leave peripheral bearing portions25. v s

The metal disks are mounted on the cores on opposite sides of the filler and are spaced thereby, and nuts 2% threaded on the cores retain the rubber and metal disksin close assembly to compress the fillers and prevent distortion of the same when supporting a chair and a workman. V

The spacing plate 1". above referred to further includes arcuate end portions 27 extending upwardly between the fingers 18 and bent into parallelism with the body of the plate to form tongues 28 engaging the lower faces of the bars 13 and fixed thereto by bolts 29 and 30 to form a rigid frame including the spacin plate and platform supporting arms.

The bolt 30 at one end of the frame is elongated to provide a pivotal mounting for a lever 31 having a cam face 32, and a pin 33 movable in registering openings in the plate and bar at said end has a lower end 3% fixed in a transverse block or brake shoe 35 mount ed on the outerend of an arcuate leaf spring 36 fixed to the spacing plate by a bolt 37,

, whereby rotation of the lever may cause the cam face thereof to move the pin downwardly and force the shoe against the wheel.

The shoe preferably includes a web portion normally depending into the peripheral recess of the wheel, and lateral wings or flanges having dovetail grooves to receive frictional linings 38 located to engage the untapered peripheral portions of the spaced disks, the linings being thus easily replaceable and firmly retained in the shoes, to which they may be secured by rivets as shown.

A shield 39 is further mounted over each of the end portions of the spacing plate to protect the wheels, and provide a handle-like surface against which the workman may press for advancing the chair along the lines senger.

The flexible support for the seat further preferably includes a flexible belt 40 such as a strip of canvas extending beneath the seat having ends extending upwardly through end notches in the seat and provided with reversed ends 41 for securing the metal loops 5 to which the chains and hooks are attached. Metal straps 42 are provided to close the notches.

Ordinary cable chairs having rigid and permanently connected members are not adj ustable to workmen of difierent heights, and when chains and hooks have been employed for suspending a seat, the hooks connect the lower ends of the chains to the framestraps, and must be wired to the links in which they are engaged to prevent the chain from falling should the latching clasps of the hooks become displaced and the hooks slip from the links.

In using chairs constructed in accordance with my invention, a chain may be mounted on a messenger, and the seat normally supported by the chains adjusted by inserting the hooks in selected links, so that'if the hook at one end of the seat should become disengaged, the chain at that end would support the seat.

The workman may advance the chair along the messenger by grasping the messenger and pushing against the shield, whereby his hand is protected from contact with the frame parts and wheel, thus contrasting with the use of ordinary chairs wherein the workman must grasp the spacing plate and risking injury to his hand from the messenger and rmgs. v

Should the frame become twisted or the wheel grooves be displaced from true alignment, the bolts 16 may be loosened and the bars 15 rotatively adjusted to restore eficient operating position of the wheels, whereas in ordinary apparatus misalignment cannot be easily corrected, nor corrected while the workman is occupying the chair, and the wheels will soon wear down to a dangerous extent due to slanting frictional engagement with themessenger.

The workman may readily operate the easily accessible brake lever to check the speed of the chair or fix the chair in a selected position, the character of the messenger-engaging portions of the wheel causing the weighted wheels to adhere to the messenger to prevent sliding and permitting the brakes to efiect braking, while the brake shoe flanges bear against the spaced peripheries of the metal disks, and thus avoid damage to'the compressible central portions of the wheel.

Attention is called to the fact that the peripheries of the wheels extend below the lower ends of heparallel arms 11 and 12, as clearly shown in Fig. 1, whereby the wheels may rid over guards or like members placed on messengers to protect the messengers and cables from electrical conductors extending above the same that might fall thereon.

The rubber or like central wheel portions being relatively soft will roll on the messenger without hazard of dislodging particles therefrom, and due to their compressible character will pass over the loop-like portions of the rings without displacing the same.

The bolts 16, 29 and 30 may be removed for disassembling and collapsing the chair for transport or storage.

What I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a wire-engaging device of the character described, a frame, a wheel rotatively mounted on the frame including an elastic Wire-engaging portion and a metal rim portion, and a brake including a lever and a lever operated pin mounted on the frame and adapted to engage said metal portion of the Wheel.

2. In a cable repair carriage, a frame including a longitudinal plate having an upbent end finger, a seat, a seat-supporting strap connected to said finger, a wheel rotatively supported by said strap, and braking means including a brake shoe engageable with the wheel and means for pressing the shoe against the wheel carried by said finger.

3. In a cable repair carriage including a frame, and wheels rotatably mounted on the frame having cable engaging peripheries, a brake including a leaf spring fixed to the frame and having a free end projecting over one of the Wheels, a brake shoe carried on the free end of the leaf spring, and means on the frame for moving the brake shoe into braking relation with said wheel.

4. In a cable repair carriage including a frame, and wheels rotatably mounted on the frame having cable engaging peripheries, a brake including a leaf spring fixed to the frame and having a free end projecting over one of the wheels, a brake shoe carried 011 the free end of the leaf spring, a pin member carried by said brake shoe and slidable in the frame, and a cam lever pivotally mounted on the frame having a cam for engaging the pin member to move the shoe into braking relation with said wheel.

5. In a cable repair carriage including a frame, and wheels rotatably mounted on the frame having cable engaging peripheries, a brake including a leaf spring fixed to the frame and having a free end projecting over one of the wheels, a brake shoe carried on the free end of the leaf spring, and cam means on the frame for moving the brake shoe into braking relation with said Wheel.

6. In a cable carriage, a longitudinal plate member, bracket members at the ends of the plate member, wheels having cable engaging peripheries rotatably carried by said bracket a metal rim portion and a brake including a lever and a lever operated member mounted on the frame to engage the metal portion of the wheel upon operation of the lever.

8. In a cable repair carriage including a frame, a Wheel rotatively mounted on the frame, and a brake including a wheel engaging member on the frame, and a cam lever on the frame for retaining the wheel engaging member in brake setting position. i

In testimony whereof I affix my signature.

WALTER I-I. BONE. 

